Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction Fall 2022
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/21/2022
Arguably hockey’s most famous franchise and winner of 24 Stanley Cups, the organization of the Montreal Canadiens is where this incredible wool offering hails from, with a cool story as well. Our consignor shares that his great grandfather and Canadiens general manager, Frank Selke Sr. were friends, becoming such over their shared love of chickens with the tale confirmed to us by photos of correspondence between them sent by the consignor. The jersey was presented to our consignor’s great grandfather back in the day as a Jean Beliveau worn jersey but the type of jersey predates Beliveau's arrival with the Canadiens. Dated as being from the late-1940s/early-1950s, the sweater measures out to a modern-day size 38 with the front having been styled with a tri layer felt crest of the Canadiens. The tie up style neck showcases six eyelets while the elbows sport pro-style reinforcements. The back has been accented with a white over blue felt number “4” while the interior of the jersey features a “McNiece’s Sports Montreal” tag on the hem. Although very similar, we were unable to match the exact style of the jersey to anything the Canadiens wore in that era (with combinations of style of team crest, style of numbers, number of eyelets and team crest/number placement), it is possible that the jersey originates from the Montreal Junior Canadiens who wore very similar jerseys as to those of their parent NHL club. Exhibited game-wear is heavy throughout the jersey with the front showing multiple small holes as well as black marks found in the left shoulder area and the hem. Both sleeves show numerous team repairs in the elbow and forearm area with the left sleeve also having a large patched repair on the backside. The back side of the jersey shows a few small holes at the lower left and a large unrepaired hole is found on the right shoulder. The front as well as the sleeves and cuffs show light stains. A remarkable piece from the beginning of the Montreal Canadiens golden era.
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